


Forever

by masulevin



Series: Artemis & Apollo Ryder - MEA [6]
Category: Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: Custom Female Ryder | Sara, F/F, Fluff, Marriage Proposal, Post-Canon, Surprises
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-29
Updated: 2018-06-29
Packaged: 2019-05-30 05:12:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,703
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15089747
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/masulevin/pseuds/masulevin
Summary: Artemis Ryder has an important question for Suvi, but she has another surprise for her first.





	Forever

**Author's Note:**

  * For [cassandrapentayaaaaas](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cassandrapentayaaaaas/gifts).



Artemis has been planning this for literally weeks. She’s consulted with Gil, Pol, Vetra, Kallo, SAM, and even Reyes Vidal. She’s considered all contingencies; she has a plan, a backup plan, and a backup for that one too. The date has been chosen, Suvi has been convinced to take three whole days off work (honestly, the hardest part of the whole thing), and now it’s time to get started.

Reyes, bless his heart, looked absolutely over the moon to when he was asked for help. He made sure to point out that Artemis will owe him a favor after this, but he was clearly thrilled to be included in her plans.

If she’d had this much time to plan her fights with the kett, she probably wouldn’t have died so many times.

Kallo, per Artemis’ instructions, lands the Tempest at Ditaeon just after noon. Vetra distracts Suvi long enough for Artemis to put their belongings in the back of the Nomad, and then Artemis loads Suvi up and drives away from the colony before she can get dragged into any local argument or errand for Tate.

Suvi laughs wildly as the Nomad flies over the top of a rise, momentarily lifting her out of her seat before it bounces back into the dirt. “Do you always drive like this?” The wheels crunch over gravel and the engine whines until Artemis switches gears.

“Yep!” Artemis pops the “p” in her response and shoots a grin over at Suvi before returning her eyes to the road. SAM is giving her directions to their pre-arranged location, the coordinates provided by Reyes via vid-comm, she focuses on his heads-up display. “Wishing you spent more time out in the field?”

Suvi giggles again and sways in her seat as Artemis takes a corner just a little too fast. She’s clutching the handrail and center console to hold herself upright. “I’m thinking you’re lucky I don’t get motion sick.”

Artemis’ grin grows and she eases off of the accelerator. “I’m definitely lucky,” she says, and then she winks at Suvi just to watch her blush.

Their destination appears as they climb another rise, a little house settled comfortably against a cliff face and taking advantage of the natural cave systems in the valley. Suvi gasps and cranes her neck to see, and Artemis grins to herself as she tucks the Nomad into the alcove designed for storing a small shuttle.

“What is this?” Suvi demands, climbing out of the vehicle as soon as Artemis shuts off the engine.

Artemis grabs their bags out of the back before she answers. “Your surprise.”

Suvi accepts the arm around her waist and the kiss on her cheek without looking back at Artemis. She’s frowning, just a little, her beautiful mind trying to puzzle out exactly why she’s getting a surprise in the form of a house on Kadara when they already have a house on Meridian and Suvi’s Initiative-issued temporary apartment on Havarl.

“A… house?” Suvi follows when Artemis starts to lead her forward, head still craned so she can try to see where they’re going through the dark stairs that lead from the cave where they parked to the house.

“Borrowed for the weekend. I’m told it has a lovely view.” They have to pause at the top of the stairs so Artemis can transfer the door codes from her omnitool, but the door swooshes open and they’re bathed in golden light from Kadara’s sun streaming through some wide windows across the room.

Artemis glances over at Suvi and grins when she sees the woman’s lips parted lips and wide eyes taking in every single detail. She releases Suvi, and Suvi walks right up to the windows to look out at the valley stretching to dizzying depths below. 

With Suvi briefly entertained, Artemis takes the bags into the bedroom. Suvi’s goes on the right side of the bed; Artemis’ goes on the left. From her own bag, she pulls the boxed food prepared for a little picnic, two pairs of eyeglasses, and -- most importantly -- a thin box that fits securely in one of her pockets.

When she steps back into the main room, Suvi’s moved into the kitchen area and is rifling through the cabinets. They’re stocked with enough food to get them through the next couple days after their picnic lunch, but Suvi’s pulling a bottle of champagne out of the fridge with a bemused expression.

“Art, this is all too much…” Suvi starts to put the champagne back in the fridge, but Artemis bounces over and plucks it out of her hands. Condensation is already starting to bead on the outside from the warmer air of the house, and it slips easily from Suvi’s grip despite the grab she makes to get it back.

“It’s not too much,” Artemis corrects, leaning in to press a kiss to Suvi’s forehead. “It’s exactly enough. Can you find glasses for me?”

Suvi just sighs and starts looking through the cabinets until she finds the one with glasses. There aren’t any specifically for champagne, but she grabs two tumblers and follows Artemis up another set of stairs and out into the sunlight once more.

There’s a porch of sorts, overlooking the valley on one side and the descending cliff on the other. There’s a table and a couple of chairs, dusty from sitting outside uncovered, but both women sit down anyway.

“Are you ready to tell me what this is about?” Suvi asks. “My birthday isn’t for three more months.”

Artemis hands Suvi one of the two boxes instead of answering. She pulls a thick sandwich and a salad out of her box, arranging them just so on the table, and then puts the glasses between them.

“There’s something I wanted to show you,” she says, finally, trying to squash the nervousness she feels bubbling up in her chest. Suvi picks up one of the eyeglasses and stares at them with her eyebrows pushed together. “There’s a solar eclipse in… SAM, how much time do we have left?”

SAM’s voice filters through her omnitool’s speaker so Suvi can hear too. “ _ The eclipse began ten minutes ago, but totality will not be for another eighty minutes. _ ”

“There. Eighty minutes. We might as well drink this now before it gets too warm.” Artemis pops the cork on the champagne and starts wishing they had a bucket of ice when she notices Suvi’s slipped the glasses on and is staring up at the sun.

“Oh! Look! It’s starting!” Suvi waves her hands to get Artemis’ attention but doesn’t pull her gaze down from the sun until Artemis grabs her fingers and presses a cold glass into her hand. She takes the champagne, pushes the glasses up on her head so that her red hair fans out at the sides, matches Artemis’ smile. “I’ve never seen a total eclipse before.”

Artemis’ smile widens and she takes a deep breath to steady her heart. “Good. I wanted you to have something special.”

Suvi’s cheeks turn pink, and she leans forward to capture Artemis’ lips in a soft kiss. It lingers, gentle, until Artemis sits up and puts her own glasses on to look up at the sun too.

They pass the rest of the time eating, chatting, and drinking most of the champagne. It warms in the midday sun until they abandon it, content instead to squeeze into one chair to watch the last few minutes in silence.

 SAM lets them know when it’s safe to remove their glasses. It’s almost eerie, like dusk in the afternoon with nighttime insects waking up all around them. Suvi, resting in Artemis’ lap, shivers and goosebumps break out across her skin.

Artemis rubs her hands up and down Suvi’s arms and rests her chin on Suvi’s shoulder. “You okay?”

Suvi nods. “Yes. It’s just… it’s so beautiful. I’ve never seen anything like it.” She sniffs gently, looking up at the sun completely obscured, then at the Kadara landscape around them.

They sit together in silence, awed by the way the eclipse changes everything around them, until SAM silently notifies Artemis that the safe period for their eyes is almost over. She takes a deep breath and pulls one arm free of Suvi’s grasp to reach into her pocket for that flat little box.

Suvi barely notices her movement, doesn’t look to see what she’s up to until Artemis clears her throat and begins to speak.

“I love you  _ so much,  _ Suvi,” she says, and then has to pause as emotion clogs her throat and blocks the rest of her words. She clears her throat and tries again. “I never expected I would find someone like you, ever, and every single day I’m thankful that you were the one assigned to the Tempest.”

Suvi’s little noise of embarrassment cuts off when she sees what’s clutched in Artemis’ fingers. Held just in front of her so she can easily see is a ring, the band twisted, the gem in the center sparkling even in the low light. 

“You make me a better person. You’ve made me happier over the last year than I ever remember being, and I hope I’ve been here for you even a fraction of the way you’ve been here for me. I want to keep trying to make you happy, for as long as you’ll have me. Marry me?”

Her question sounds more uncertain than she’d intended, Suvi’s absolute stillness making her second-guess asking at the very beginning of the trip, but then…

Suvi’s shaking fingers pluck the ring from Artemis’ steady ones and slip it onto the fourth finger of her left hand. She turns, balancing on Artemis’ knee at the edge of the chair, and kisses her with an enthusiasm that pushes all the air from her lungs.

She finally breaks away but keeps their foreheads together and her hands at the back of Artemis’ neck. “Of  _ course  _ I’ll marry you,” Suvi whispers. “I kept hoping you’d ask.”

Artemis’ laugh is watery, but then they’re kissing again, tears mingling and lips still tasting of the champagne they opened too early.

Neither of them notices when the moon moves on and the sun touches their skin once more.


End file.
